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Heures me fault de Nostre Dame
Qui soient de soutil ouvraige,
D’or et d’azur, riches et ceintes,
Bien ordonnées et bien peintes,
De fin frap d’or bien couvertes,
Et quent elles seront ouvertes,
Deux fermaulx d’or qui fermeront.

A Book of Hours, too, must be mine,
Where subtle workmanship will shine,
Of gold and azure, rich and smart,
Arranges and painted with great art,
Covered with fine brocade of gold;
And there must be, so as to hold
The pages closed, two gold clasps.

This creed was shared among the wives of nobility who did not desire to appear in church without their own Book of Hours.

What is a Book of Hours, and how was it used?

A Book of Hours is an illuminated manuscript used primarily from the 13th through 16th centuries. Medieval manuscripts were decorated by hand with colored inks and metals. Particular pages of illuminated manuscripts were adorned with oversized elaborate initial letters, images of various sizes, and a decorated border. All books during the Middle Ages were originally made by hand and in segments: horizontal and vertical lines were drafted prior to the scribe’s writing the text. The art of intricate book illumination was practiced by monks.

The Byzantine Christian church established a protocol for daily prayer and devotion during certain intervals of the day, beginning at daybreak and continuing every three hours throughout the day. The clergy, using books called breviaries, were able to recite the complicated cycle of daily devotions. The laity, or laypersons, desired to profess their beliefs as well. Considered a “bestseller of Medieval Times,” a Book of Hours, which included several elements from the breviaries, was a personal prayer book for the laity to abide by the Christian church’s daily protocol of devotional prayer.

Clergy – Priests, monks, nuns, ordained deacons, etc.

A Book of Hours was also used medicinally and as a record, since families noted births, marriages, and deaths there. People who were physically ailing could call upon a specific saint noted in their Book to intercede and bring healing on their behalf.

How many elements does a Book of Hours contain?

The number of elements included varies from book to book. No two manuscripts are identical. Except for the calendar, which is always the first element, the sections can vary in order and type of text. A Book of Hours may contain a calendar, gospel lessons, the prayer of Obsecro te, the prayer of O intemerata, Hours of the Virgin/Little Office of Our Lady, Hours of the Cross, Hours of the Holy Spirit, Penitential Psalms, Litany, Office of the Dead, and Suffrage of the Saints.

Each element was significant to the laity’s devotion. The calendar highlighted important Church festivals, feast days, and universal saints, usually denoted in gold or red (hence “red-letter days”). Depending upon the locale, the calendar might include lesser saints, church consecration anniversaries, or notable persons from the diocese. The prayers of Obsecro te and O intemerata were popular prayers said in honor of the Virgin Mary. The Hours of the Virgin (more about which below) were considered the most important section. The Hours of the Cross and Holy Spirit contain a hymn, anthem, and prayer. Penitential Psalms focus on one’s awareness of sin and hope of compassion and pardon. A liturgical prayer with a plea for help can be found in the litany, while the Office of the Dead consists of prayers said during a wake or vigil prior to burial. The Suffrage of the Saints invokes the presence of saints.

Why were the Hours of the Virgin so important?*

The Hours of the Virgin were important to the clergy and their liturgical prayers, as the Virgin Mary was a central figure of devotion. The Hours also contained a series of eight prayers that occur over a 24-hour period that correlate to the life of the Virgin. Each Hour is composed of psalms, hymns, liturgical songs, lessons, prayers, and phrases. The standard cycle is as follows, representing her life:

Matins Annunciation Lauds Visitation Prime Nativity Terce Annunciation to the shepherds Sext Adoration of the Magi None Presentation in the temple Vespers Flight into Egypt Compline Coronation of the Virgin

Which class of people would have owned a Book of Hours, and why?

People who were literate (only a small percentage during the Middle Ages) and even those who could not read all desired their own Book of Hours. Most aristocrats during the 13th and 14th centuries commissioned their own Book. The amount of ornamentation was based on a patron’s finances. A patron could request that his or her family’s coat-of-arms become a component of the cover, or that the miniator use very little gold leafing. According to the patron’s wishes, monks composed specific prayers, copied text from the breviaries, and incorporated the names of particular saints. Decorative initials and borders were also added. Sometimes a Book of Hours was commissioned or purchased as a wedding gift, passed from one generation to another, or conveyed through inheritance.

Miniators – Artists, usually monks, who painted on vellum or paper in a small size

By the 15th century, members of the nobility and middle classes alike owned at least one Book of Hours. The production of illuminated manuscripts shifted from the output of a select few artists to workshops that began to mass produce Books of Hours. The 15th century brought about another bookmaking process. Johann Gutenberg’s experimentation with “movable type” resulted in the invention of a press that enabled him to provide a printed copy of the Bible for sale by 1455. The once-laborious task of making all books by hand ultimately changed with the use of Gutenberg’s press.

-- Channon M. H. Dillard

SOURCES

De la Croix, Horse, and Richard G. Tansey. Gardner’s Art Through the Ages, 5th ed. New York: Harcourt, Brace, & World, 1970.

Harthan, John P. The Book of Hours. New York: Park Lane Books, Crown Publishers, 1997.

Wieck, Roger, S. Time Sanctified: The Book of Hours in Medieval Art and Life. New York: George Braziller, Inc. in association with The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore, 1988.

* For more information on the Hours of the Virgin and the episodes in her life, please visit http://library.wustl.edu/units/spec/exhibits/illuminated/hours_virgin.asp.

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